Nikon D3000 review

The D3000 is a great camera for someone stepping up from even a very sophisticated point and shoot camera. I moved up from a superzoom P&S camera primarily because it was too slow and awkward for action photos of my kids. The D3000 solves all those shortcomings by providing, no shutter lag, more accurate and faster autofocus, and outstanding light metering.

In one afternoon I took well over 300 pics of downhill ski racers and virtually all were well exposed and in focus. In post processing I heavily cropped the pics and they still looked fantastic. This would not have been something easy to do with my Canon S5is point and shoot, and many of the shots would have been impossible.

While the low light capability of the D3000 is not best in class, it is superior to any point and shoot.

What I really like:* Optical viewfinder is large and bright* 3" display is nice* Menu system is user friendly and there are help prompts available for each menu item* Auto focus & light metering are excellent* Fast - no shutter lag* 3 frame per second is virtually unlimited in jpeg mode. This is great for action shots.* Like all DSLR's it's great to be able to zoom with your left hand and release the shutter with your right hand.* Excellent image quality* Great ergonomics and fits nicely in my hands

Problems:

No problems and while there isn't anything I don't like, it's important to note:* No Live View - you need to look through the viewfinder to take pics. For me taking action pics through a viewfinder is superior to using an LCD, so I don't miss live view one bit.* No video mode. I got a Panasonic ZS3 for that.* Transitioning to any DSLR is going to require a commitment to learning